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There are bigger fish to fry, a lot more pressing issues on their plate, a lot more that needs to be done for a Raptors franchise that has never won a seven-game playoff series.

It’s why Monday’s announcement that Lou Williams had won the NBA’s Sixth Man Award should be viewed for what it is, an acknowledgement of a career season, a brief moment to pat someone on the back, but that’s all it amounts to, an individual honour that has no bearing on Tuesday’s Game 2.

The crowd will get to show its approval for Sweet Lou, but Toronto’s fanbase has always shown its support each time Williams makes a three.

Only twice in Raptors franchise history has a player received league recognition, Damon Stoudamire and Vince Carter both winning rookie honours.

Both players would eventually leave town and there’s no assurance of Williams staying beyond this post-season.

Players cash in when playing for a contract, much like Kyle Lowry, Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson were each given new deals when the Raptors would eventually be eliminated spring to Brooklyn in seven games.

No one should ever dismiss what Williams has done and meant for the Raptors because there’s no way the team would have won a franchise-high 49 games this season, no chance Toronto would have earned home court in the opening round.

When a big shot needs to be made, Williams has often stepped up, oblivious to the stage and no fear of missing.

But he does take some questionable heaves, like he did in Saturday afternoon’s Game 1.

Mind you, he’s not alone.

Toronto’s primary scorers in Williams, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan went a combined 12-of-46 from the field with half of Williams’ shot taken from beyond the arc.

It’s bounce-back night for the Raptors in Game 2 and while an award is nice and in this case well-deserved, it means nothing come tip time.

“I’m just excited about Lou, a guy who comes back from his injury, worked hard, dedicated himself to getting his body right, nobody kind of knew what he was going to bring to the table once he was signed, whether it was damaged goods or whatever,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. “He’s proved to everybody that he’s the old Lou Williams.”

Williams, 28, appeared in 80 of Toronto’s 82 regular-season games, posting a career-best scoring average of 15.5 points.

He led or tied for the team lead in scoring 18 times, second most in the NBA for a second-unit player as the Raptors went 14-4 during that stretch.

Williams converted 86.1% of his three throws, tops among Toronto players, while draining 152 three-balls, a career-high for Williams, whose previous career milestone was set in 2010 when he played for the Sixers (88).

“Lou’s the coolest dude in the world,’’ said DeRozan. “He has a song about him (from Drake) and now he has an award to go with it.”

It’s an award that will bring more attention to Williams and eventually force the Raptors to sit down and contemplate his worth from a purely business perspective.

When Toronto acquired Williams from Atlanta, it seemed a perfect marriage from the get-to, a veteran looking to prove his worth once again in the cut-throat world that is the NBA, a team needing a gunslinger to come off the bench.

“It’s great,’’ added DeRozan.

“He deserves it. We played with the best sixth man in the league and he deserves it. The way he really impacted the game when he came in, he really helped us win a lot of big games. He finished a lot of games and helped us pull a lot of games out.”

DeRozan has been telling Williams for about two months how this moment would arrive.

A humble and grateful Williams accepted the award and thanked those who have helped in his journey, which didn’t look so good when he suffered a knee injury.

“It’s been an eye-opener that anything is possible,’’ said Williams.

Good on him for his humility and for sharing the moment.It’s now up to him and Williams’ teammates to carry this momentum on to the floor for Game 2.

SIXTH SENSE

A look at how the voting totals for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the year award won by Raptors guard Lou Williams; five points were awarded for a first-place vote, three for second and one for a third-place vote.

Vince Carter: Vinsanity wins in a landslide, getting 113 out of a possible 118 first-place votes for top rookie with Jason Williams (3) and Paul Pierce (2) the only other players to receive a first-place vote.

2006 Season

Bryan Colangelo: NBA’s top executive as Colangelo adds nine new players to Toronto’s roster as Raptors win the franchise’s first divisional title; team fails to get out of the first round following a loss to New Jersey.

2006 Season

Sam Mitchell: NBA’s coach of the year who receives a new four-year contract; Mitchell’s days in Toronto end on Dec. 3, 2008 when he’s shown the door as Raptors start the season with an 8-9 record.

2014 Season

Lou Williams: NBA’s Sixth Man, an expected turn of event given his presence; the big question now is whether the Raptors will show Williams the money this off-season when he enters free agency.